Twitter Fingers Turn To Trading BFFLs

Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors took a shot at the Cleveland Cavaliers with this t-shirt. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)This article is more than 2 years old.

Trash talk has always been a part of sports. And while some athletes prefer to do their jawing on the court, plenty more take to social media — namely Twitter — to call out their peers. These so-called Twitter feuds range from victors goading the vanquished to perceived slights that rapidly escalate to the downright absurd.

Whatever the case, they are usually entertaining. Here is a selection of the best Twitter moments between teams and athletes.

Trade Talks Take To Twitter

The Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets completed a major trade Tuesday that sent Dwight Howard to the Hornets. But that was not the only trade the teams made. Earlier that day, their team Twitter accounts engaged in public trade negotiations. After the Hawks tweeted about fans telling the team to "trade for everybody," the Hornets responded, "bruh. same." The Hawks jokingly offered "today's tweet for tomorrow's tweet and an unprotected future tweet." The Los Angeles Clippers' Twitter account ran the offer through the ESPN NBA Trade Machine.

LeBron James and Draymond Green are friends, but that did not take away from their poking fun at one another — with the aid of clever T-shirts. James wore an Ultimate Warrior shirt after he and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Green and the Golden State Warriors in last year's NBA Finals. This year, the Warriors took home the championship, and Green wore a shirt that read "Quickie," referencing both the Cavaliers' Quicken Loans Arena and the fact that the Warriors dispatched their opponents in just five games. James responded.

The NBA sent a memorandum to the league this past February reminding teams that "mocking and/or ridiculing opponents" is prohibited on social media. Why did the league feel the need to step in? The answer lies in an infamous Twitter spat between Memphis Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons and Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum. The Trail Blazers' Twitter account struck first by posting a video of Parsons shooting an air-ball.

When hyper-competitive athletes come together on a platform like Twitter, sometimes the only winner is pettiness.

Killing With Kindness

Following the NBA's social media memorandum, the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings, which boast two of the league's more active Twitter accounts, decided to poke fun at the league with an excessively complimentary back-and-forth while the teams competed on the court. Here are some of the highlights: